Digital Commons Network^™

Analytical And Numerical Studies Of Photo-Injected Charge Transport In Molecularly-Doped Polymers, Amrita Roy Chowdhury

Doctoral Dissertations

"The mobility of photo-injected charge carriers in molecularly-doped polymers (MDPs) exhibits a commonly observed, and nearly universal Poole-Frenkel field dependence, µ ~ exp [square root (ß₀E)], that has been shown to arise from the correlated Gaussian energy distribution of transport sites encountered by charges undergoing hopping transport through the material. Analytical and numerical studies of photo-injected charge transport in these materials are presented here with an attempt to understand how specific features of the various models developed to describe these systems depend on the microscopic parameters that define them. Specifically, previously published time-of-flight mobility data for the molecularly …

Behavior Of Hollow-Core Fiber Reinforced Polymer-Concrete-Steel Bridge Columns Under Extreme Loading, Omar I. Abdelkarim

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study introduces an investigation of the behavior of innovative, resilient, and quickly-constructed hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) bridge columns under extreme loading. The HC-FCS column consists of a concrete wall sandwiched between an outer fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tube and an inner steel tube. The steel tube was embedded into a reinforced concrete footing with an embedded length of 1.6-1.8 times the diameter of the steel tube. The FRP tube only confined the concrete wall and truncated at the top of the footing level. The hollow steel tube was the only reinforcement for shear and flexure inside the HC-FCS …

Microstructure And Geotechnical Properties Of St. Peter Sandstone In Clayton, Iowa, Amir Hossein Bagherieh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The St. Peter Sandstone is significantly different from the minerals and rocks which have been studied extensively in mining. It is brittle and characterized by an unusually high friction angle. On the other hand it is friable, and it is nearly cohesionless. The scarcity of the ground control techniques for this particular mining environment has created many difficulties for mine operators. This research aims to establish a fundamental understanding of the basic mechanical and strength properties of the St. Peter Sandstone for engineering design and scientific research. The specific objectives are 1) characterizing the strength of the St. Peter Sandstone, …

Archaeological And Historical Investigations Of The Robert Newsom Farmstead (23cy497), Callaway County, Missouri, James Adam Halpern

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Scholarly research on slavery in the U.S. has focused on large commercial plantations in the Old South. Yet a majority of slaveholders and nearly half of the enslaved lived in smaller slaveholding houses and family farms (Burke 2010:4). This study helps redress the dearth of research on small slaveholdings through study of the Robert Newsom Farmstead, or "Celia" Site (23CY497), located in Callaway County, Missouri. The research goal is to model the antebellum spatial organization of the landholding, thereby increasing our understanding of slavery at the Newsom site and on non-plantation slaveholdings generally. This was accomplished through collection and analysis …

On The Design And Analysis Of Compliant Mechanisms Using The Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model Concept, Sushrut Gangadhar Bapat

Doctoral Dissertations

"The pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) concept, developed for the analysis and design of large-deflection flexible members, has proved over time to be a simple, efficient and accurate tool for the synthesis, analysis and design of compliant mechanisms. This dissertation investigates a variety of compliant mechanism analysis and design problems using the PRBM concept and assists in further advancement of the implementation of the PRBMs. The dissertation begins with the development of a PRBM for a fixed-guided compliant beam with one inflection point in the deformed state. This research investigation advances the concept of characteristic deflection domain to a new synthesis framework …

A Novel Powder Factor Based Bench Blast Design Method For Large Surface Coal Mines, Andrew Clifford Blair

Doctoral Dissertations

"Large surface coal mines in Wyoming's Powder River Basin ship millions of tons of coal per annum, moving millions of cubic yards of overburden to mine the coal. Much of this volume is blasted in the form of benches, a common mining technique. Increases in production and scale of equipment in the past thirty-five years have created a paradigm shift for drill and blast personnel at these large surface mines, and the explosives industry has yet to create a blast design method specifically tailored for large surface coal mine bench blasting.

This research examines the typical scale of bench blasting …

Dissolution Of Borate Glasses And Precipitation Of Phosphate Compounds, Jaime Lynn George

Doctoral Dissertations

"Borate glasses have been developed for biomedical applications such as scaffolds for soft tissue and bone repair. The dissolution processes of borate glasses in phosphate-containing aqueous solutions were studied by µ-Raman spectroscopy which provided information about the types and concentrations of borate species released into the solution as a function of time and characterized the formation of calcium phosphate reaction products on the glass surface. Boric acid molecules (H₃BO₃) and borate anions (B(OH)₄^-) can be detected in solution and their relative concentrations depend on the solution pH.

Static and dynamic single-pass flow-through experiments …

Discrete Analogues Of Some Classical Special Functions, Thomas Joseph Cuchta

Doctoral Dissertations

"Analogues of special functions on time scales are studied with special focus on the time scale 𝕋 = hℤ. Functions investigated in particular include complex monomials, new trigonometric functions, Gaussian bell, Hermite and Laguerre polynomials, Bessel functions, and hypergeometric series"--Abstract, page iii.

Reliability And Security In Low Power Circuits And Systems, Hui Geng

Doctoral Dissertations

"With the massive deployment of mobile devices in sensitive areas such as healthcare and defense, hardware reliability and security have become hot research topics in recent years. These topics, although different in definition, are usually correlated. This dissertation offers an in-depth treatment on enhancing the reliability and security of low power circuits and systems. The first part of the dissertation deals with the reliability of sub-threshold designs, which use supply voltage lower than the threshold voltage (V_th) of transistors to reduce power. The exponential relationship between delay and V_th significantly jeopardizes their reliability due to process variation …

Reorienting Restorative Justice: Initiating A New Dialogue Of Rights Consciousness, Community Empowerment And Politicization, Thalia González

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

For the last three decades scholars have explored the practice of restorative justice as a crime control mechanism in a multitude of settings. Much of the discourse has focused on restorative justice as an alternative to traditional punitive and retributive criminal justice processes. Whether restorative or punitive, criminal justice processes that seek to address harm are not apart, above, or outside social, cultural and political relations. This Article seeks to initiate a new dialogue of justice and argues that the ontology of restorative justice should to be viewed to include a liberatory moment of politicization focused on promoting equality and …

Fitting The Forum To The Pernicious Fuss: A Dispute System Design To Address Implicit Bias And 'Isms In The Workplace, Elayne E. Greenberg

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This paper proposes a dispute system design to address workplace discrimination caused by implicit biases so that employees and employers involved in such disputes can secure a more responsive justice than existing legal processes are able to provide. Workplace discrimination caused by implicit bias continues to contaminate our work environment despite our focused legal efforts to combat such overt "isms" as sexism, racism, ageism, and ableism. Although overt expressions of bias have significantly decreased in recent years, expressions of implicit bias, the primary cause of workplace discrimination, persist.

This discussion takes place in three parts. Part One describes implicit bias, …

After The Dust Settles: Experiences Of Haitian Earthquake Survivors And Implications For Psychosocial Support, Florence Saint-Jean

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 wide magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and thousands of Haitians were left to cope with the aftermath, and many mental health concerns began to surface (Amnesty International, 2011; Cénat & Derivois, 2014). The main purpose of this study is to understand post-earthquake psychosocial issues in the Haitian context by studying the experiences of Natives in Haiti. This study provides implications for counseling support from international emergency response workers, counselors, counselor educators interested in providing mental health training in Haiti or other developing countries, and researcher's interested in increasing knowledge that has real impact on mental …

Inheriting Nietzsche: The Frankfurt School And Foucault On The Foundation Of Critique, George Shea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation examines the theoretical ramifications that rejecting a metaphysical foundation has for providing critical and normative resources. While commentators often dismiss post-metaphysical philosophies as contradictory variants of anti-metaphysics, I demonstrate using the work of Nietzsche that they proceed from a deliberate "methodological decision" to suspend metaphysical assumptions. For this reason, while the methodological commitments of post-metaphysical critical social theories establish a theoretical orientation for their inquiries, they must forgo analyses that attribute domination to the distorting effects of illusion, error, or illegitimacy, and would thus cast liberation from domination as a return to a metaphysical foundation. In this light, …

Role Of Greenhouse Gas Inventories In Climate Change Mitigation At Institutions Of Higher Education, Sadaf Tehmina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite hundreds of Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) pledging action against climate change, there is little research on how to effectively enable these initiatives. This study utilizes a survey to analyze the role of greenhouse gas inventories (GHGI) in climate change mitigation within IHE. Among 62 responses, 46 indicated GHGI was helpful in decisions regarding emission reduction measures; 54 reported having a climate action plan (CAP) or sustainability policy (SP); 49 used GHGI in forming the CAP/SP. 95% of the respondents signed the ACUPCC pledge. When GHGI was used the IHE was more likely to have higher emission reductions (above …

Women’S Health Priorities And Interventions, Marleen Temmerman, Rajat Khosla, Laura Laski, Zoe Mathews, Lale Say

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Over the past decades, governments have taken steps towards improving women’s health in line with commitments made in key international summits. Progress has been made in reducing maternal mortality,1 which accelerated with the launch of the United Nations secretary general’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health in 2010. Use of maternal healthcare and family planning has increased in some countries.2 Progress has also been seen on two determinants of women’s health—school enrolment rates for girls and political participation of women—but not for others such as gender based violence.3

However, societies are still failing women in relation to health, especially …

Navigating A Paradoxical Identity : The Experiences Of Mixed Race Individuals Who Are Perceived As White, Marcella Emily Galvez Wagner

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative exploratory study examines the experiences of mixed race individuals who are perceived as White by others based on physical appearance. Literature on the mixed race population has only more recently focused on the phenomenon of racial misrecognition, or the incongruence between racial identity and racial perception by others. This study seeks to advance this literature by exploring the experiences of individuals who have a particular form of racial misrecognition where they hold a non-dominant racial identity and yet are perceived as White by others. The study explored racial identity, racial markers, disclosure and passing, family context, experiences of …

A Seminar For Building Strong Marriages And Healthy Relationships In South Bend Hispanic Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ronald Rojas

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Despite the high biblical ideals for marriage and the divine power that is available to enable marital commitments to endure, the Seventh-day Adventist church recognizes the possibility that some individuals will not survive in marriage. Over the past 35 years (1974-2009) there has been a decline in the percentage of couples still in their first marriage (from 81% in 1974 to 58% in 2009) among Adventists in North America, which is very similar to the decline in percentage of married couples (from 82% in 1970 to 48% in 2010) in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). As a …

Contextualized Biblical Preaching Program For Young Adult Lay Preachers In Kenya, Fenades Obinchu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kenya has the highest membership in the East Central African Division (ECD) with an average of one pastor for 1,136 members. Not only is the membership high and increasing, but each pastor has an average of seven churches (as of 2013) (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2003-2013). The majority of the membership is comprised of youth (13-17 years) and young adults (18-30 years). Even though youth and young adults comprise the majority of the membership, there is minimal level of active participation and low commitments from them in the life of the church, especially …

A Discipleship Project For New Members At The St. John's Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Wayne Rupert Knowles

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

During the first decade of the 21st century, a review of the ministry structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. Johns, Antigua, was done. It revealed that there was a need for a systematic plan to nurture new members into leaders. Although there were new converts classes held and materials were available for study, there were few organized plans within the church that would assist new members to become spiritually mature and equipped for ministry. This lack of structure has resulted in very few people being prepared to serve in the ministries of the church. Something needed to …

Enhancing The Quality Of Friendship In Married Couples' Relationships In The Madison, Tennessee Hispanic Sda District, Nathan Delima

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to explore the possibility of enhancing the friendship of certain married couples in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Madison, Tennessee Hispanic District. This project resource should add to the academic field of study by possibly helping pastors, family educators, and church family life leaders to consider using this project to help enrich the relationships of married couples. It will likely provide resource information for those doing projects or working with married couples.

Justification for the Project

There is a need to nurture the friendship of the married couples within the churches of …

A Program For Increasing Personal Reflection From A Biblical Perspective For Spiritual Growth At The Topeka Wanamaker Seventh-Day Adventist Church, George Mclain Goddard

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Shortly after arriving as the new pastor of the Wanamaker church I noticed the appearance of spiritual immaturity and disunity among members and stress between members and leaders. People gave time and talent to the church, yet complained about each other’s actions. It seemed that misperceptions of self, others, and God among members blocked spiritual development toward the maturity and unity that Christ prayed for (John 17). The root of the problem seemed to be perceptual. A developmental program was needed that would be accessible to people across the broad spectrum of understanding and move them toward Christian maturity …

The Microtonal Guitars Of Harry Partch, John Schneider

Soundboard Scholar

Known as an "American Maverick," Harry Partch (1901–1974) was surely one of the United States's most colorful composers. His dissatisfaction with the scales and instruments of Western music inspired him to design and build an orchestra of over two dozen handcrafted "microtonal" instruments that were tuned to his notorious "monophonic" scale of forty-three tones per octave. Between 1934 and 1952, Partch created four different adapted guitars, using them in fifteen compositions ranging from solo song cycles (Barstow, December 1942, U.S. Highball, Three Intrusions) to chamber music, dances, and four of his five major …

Fundamentals Of Speech, Steelman Library, Sheila A. Skipper Apr

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Using Microwave Heating For Removal Of Heavy Metals / Mubarak Mujawar, Mujawar Mubarak

Student Works (2010-2019)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are among the most eminent materials in the first rank of the nanotechnology revolution. The most eye-catching features of these structures are their electronic, mechanical, optical and chemical characteristics, which open a way for future applications. A new method is introduced for synthesis of CNTs by gas phase, single stage microwave assisted chemical vapor deposition (MA-CVD) using ferrocene as a catalyst and acetylene (C2H2) and hydrogen (H2) as precursor gases. A fast CNTs growth and ambient reaction condition, lowers the cost, and simplifies the procedure leading to a high yield synthesis of high-quality CNTs with minimal impurity …

Transcriptome Profiling Of Omental Adipose Tissues In Human Obesity By Rna-Seq / Ng Hien Fuh, Hien Fuh Ng

Student Works (2010-2019)

Recent scientific research has indicated that inflammation in adipose tissues plays a central role in the pathophysiology of obesity and related complications. However, despite extensive studies, the molecular mechanisms that trigger and aggravate the obesity-related inflammation remain unclear. In this study, transcriptome profiling of omental adipose tissues from three obese and four lean patients was performed using the RNA-Seq technology. Differential expression analysis identified 206 dysregulated genes (p-value < 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2) in obesity, that are known to be involved in a multitude of functions including stress response, inflammatory response and leukocyte adhesion. Furthermore, differential splicing analysis uncovered a possible role for TLR4 RNA splicing in obesity, which is further validated with an independent cohort of samples (five obese and six lean patients) using RT-qPCR. These findings suggest that, as a person experiences weight gain leading to obesity, the adipose splicing pattern of TLR4 transcripts changes in favor of activation of TLR4 signaling, which in turn, may contribute to the progression of obesity-related inflammation and complications. This study provides a glimpse at the transcriptome of disease-state adipose tissue in obesity, and demonstrates the potential importance of aberrant RNA splicing and expression in obesity-associated immune dysregulation.

A New Technique For Lubrication Control Based On Friction Conditions In Cnc Machine Linear Guideways Using Servomotor Current Signals In Feed Drive System / Mahdi Sparham, Sparham Mahdi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining is currently one of the most important machining processes for manufacturing in industry. This is because the CNC machine offers favorable accuracy and precise machining. However, the frictional behavior in linear guideways is one of the most crucial challenges with CNC machining, as higher friction produces motion and accuracy problems. Lubrication in CNC machine guideways is used to overcome such problems. Currently, a predefined lubrication system via CNC coding command is used to lubricate guideways in CNC machines. This lubrication process is performed based on fixed times and amounts of oil injection regardless of cutting …

Integral-Derivative (I-D) And Modulation-Index-Curve Prediction Control Techniques For Three-Phase Ac-Dc Buck-Type Converter With Simplified Voltage-Based Spwm /Azrita Alias, Alias Azrita

Student Works (2010-2019)

This thesis presents the design of a three-phase AC-DC buck-type converter with bidirectional capability using simplified voltage-based sinusoidal pulse-width-modulation (SPWM) switching technique. With its four diodes connected to the switch enable bidirectional power flow in each switch. The proposed topology is an extension of the conventional 6-switch three-phase AC-DC buck-type converter whereas the proposed switching technique is a simplification of conventional modified SPWM technique. It uses one reference signals (0-60° sine wave) and one type carrier signal, instead of two reference signals and two types of carrier signals to generate PWM signals. The proposed circuit configuration produces sinusoidal AC current …

Negative Bias Temperature Instability And Permittivity Dependent Delay Mitigation In High-K Metal Oxide Compatible Cmos Dielectric / Nissar Mohammad Karim, Mohammad Karim Nissar

Student Works (2010-2019)

Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) and oxide delay are considered as threats to Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. Improving these issues result in improved performance in terms of reliability. In this thesis, to ensure reliability in transistors, the results on the basis of NBTI and oxide delay have been reported by incorporating SiO2 dielectric with different aged samples of high-K metal oxides. ZnO, TiO2 and CuO are chosen for the incorporation. NBTI occurs due to negative biasing and high temperature. And, oxide delay occurs due to high resistance and high capacitance inside dielectric. In this thesis the objectives are: …

Ber-Driven Resource Allocation For Multimedia Communication Over Downlink Ofdma Networks / Tham Mau Luen, Mau Luen Tham

Student Works (2010-2019)

Recent years have witnessed the growing pervasiveness of multimedia services due to significant advancements of both wireless access and multimedia compression technologies. On one hand, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is the key enabler for high-speed multiuser communications. On the other hand, nonscalable and scalable multimedia coding standards offer superior compression gains as well as strong adaptabilities to channel variations. The inherent error-prone nature of channel environments, the wireless resource scarcity along with the variations in the importance among multimedia packets, however, render the quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning for multimedia communication over wireless networks a challenging task. Leveraging multiple target bit-error-rates …

Utilization Of Functionally Graded Materials In Femoral Prosthesis / Azim Ataollahi Oshkour, Oshkour Azim Ataollahi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Total hip replacement is a highly effective surgical operation that relieves pain and restores the function of a degenerated hip joint. However, with the increasing incidence of total hip replacements, particularly among young patients, and femoral prosthesis implantation, implant designs should consider long-term survival and better performance. Minimizing the mismatch between the prosthesis and bone stiffness to reduce stress shielding and retain interface stresses within acceptable levels, can increase the longevity of total hip replacement and enhance the performance of the prosthesis. A prosthesis with adjustable stiffness may enable prosthetists to match the prosthesis and bone stiffness. Functionally graded materials …